How to Keep Bats Away

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First off, I have to say that there are absolutely no effective bat repellents that work. Many are sold, but they are just there to steal your money. The same absolutely goes for those ultrasonic high-pitch noise machines. The absolutely do not work! Try one out and come back here when it fails.

How to keep bats away from your house - by far the best method is to make sure that all bat entry holes are sealed shut. A simple caulk or hardening foam will do the trick. Seal any gaps as small as 3/8 inch thick.

How to keep bats away from your pool - there is no solution here, other than to install a screened-in enclosure around the pool. Sorry about that.

How to keep bats away from your porch - if there are bats around your porch, you may want to check to see if a colony is living in the building, in the attic or walls. Solve that problem, and they won't hang around your porch so much.

Bats are usually not liked by most people and are one of the most feared mammals. They go out in the night to find food for them and prefer to stay inside during the day time. A really interesting thing to know about bats is that they do not use eyes to navigate but instead use a technique more popularly known as the echolocation. The sound waves they produce from their mouth come back after hitting any obstacle in the way and they change their path. The system is so precise that you would not find a bat colliding with any moving or a stationary object – would that we all had that ability!

However, they do cause some huge problems for a lot of us. The attic of our homes is one of their favorite places to live and they have no problem in staking their claim of the area. The idea of hundreds or even thousands of bats living in your attic probably isn’t a comforting thought and could drive you, well, batty. Usually they crawl along the edges of the walls but sometimes fly around too. Their presence can be easily felt and can be really disturbing. Although they won’t turn into vampires and seek you out in the middle of the night, they can still scare the daylights out of you and tear up your home.

Excluding the Bats
Once your attic is invaded, the first thing you look to do is to remove these bats from the attic. The best time to start your bat eradication battle is around mid-August. You might want to recruit your friends, neighbors or family members to help you a bit. At the time of sunset (cliché, I know), stand outside your house, keeping all angles covered and look out for exit points which are used by bats to go out in the evening in search of their food. You must be really careful and make a note of every single hole. Remember to keep a close eye as they can squeeze through really small areas; holes that are as small as the size of your thumb. They usually prefer such small entry points and use holes not more than half an inch wide to enter and exit the attic. This is because the enemy cannot enter the area through such a narrow opening and thus they feel safe.

Next, set up a small bat house near the main exit point. Bat houses can be purchased at hardware stores, online or you can build one of your own. Let it stay there for at least one week to make bats used to their new home. After that, during the day time, cover all the openings they have been using by attaching square pieces of screen mesh. Using duct tape, fix three sides of the square screen meshes while leaving the forth one as is. This will allow them to come out but will not let then go back in. In the night they would be able to go out but will never be able to go back in. They would need a new place to stay in and would have no option but to go to the bat house you have so thoughtfully provided for them. Let the bat house stay for another week or so to make sure you have captured all of the bats, then it’s time to call in the experts to take them away and relocate them.

After the professionals have removed the bats, it’s time to get everything in order to prevent their return (or any of their brethren). Make sure you seal up each and every tiny crevice and hole that they could use to enter your attic. Cleaning of the attic after bats are gone is a must. Make sure that you use gloves and a mask for protection. Care should be taken that no one inhales the droppings as they can cause histoplasmosis which has flu like symptoms. Children and elderly are more prone to the disease.

Placing mothballs in the attic and spraying aerosol dog repellent might also help in keeping the bats away, but the results are not really great. For more expert advice, contact your local wildlife specialist for safe, easy and harmless removal of bats.

More in-detail how-to bat removal articles:

Information about bat trapping - analysis and methods for how to trap.
Information about how to kill a bat - with fumigants or poison.
Information about how to catch a bat - remove one stuck in the house.
Information about bat repellent - analysis of types and effectiveness.

You came here to learn how to keep bats away form the house, including the pool and porch, and learn some prevention tips. This site is intended to provide bat education and information, so that you can make an informed decision if you need to deal with a bat problem in your attic or house. This site provides many bat control articles and strategies, if you wish to attempt to solve the problem yourself. If you are unable to do so, which is likely with many cases of bat removal, please go to the home page and click the USA map, where I have wildlife removal experts listed in over 500 cites and towns, who can properly help you with your nuisance bat.

For more information, go back to my main how to get rid of bats page.

Learn more about bats in my educational articles. Find out how to get bats out of the attic, and if a bat in the attic will have a nest of babies. I can show you how to get bats out of a barrel tile roof and what to do about a Bat bug infestation. Learn about the Bat calendar and the Materials that are best for excluding bats. Find out how to clean bat feces out of your attic, how to useone-way exclusion funnels, and if a bat house will help prevent bats in your home. Read about histoplasmosis, and if the city or county animal services will help with a bat issue. Find out if bats really avoid light, how bats drink water, if bats migrate, and if you should ever poison a bat.

Learn about bat maternity colonies and mating habits. I can show you the property modifications that will keep bat populations down, and the kind of damage bats can cause in an attic. Learn whether or not bat feces are dangerous to touch or breathe, and if bats can walk on the ground. Find out about White Nose Syndrome, the bat summer maternity season, and the kinds of noises and sounds bats make when they are inside your house. Read my advice on how to keep bats out of a barn, if you should hire a pro or remove bats yourself, and my thoughts about using poison on bats. I can show you How to remove a dead bat, let you know what wildlife rehabilitators do with bats, and if a pest control company will remove a bat.